OCTOBER 20, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
Parks plan begins with two new jobs
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The Keizer Parks and Rec-
reation Advisory Board has
started formulating its recom-
mendation for putting the new
parks fee to use.
Beginning in November,
the city will begin collecting
$4 a month/$8 per utility bill
to pay for parks maintenance
and improvements.
Members of the parks board
are developing a plan for the
fi rst three years of the fee. In
the immediate future, it calls
for adding two full-time parks
employees, increasing services
like mowing and fertilization,
replacement of aging equip-
ment and vehicles and system-
wide tree maintenance and in-
vasive species removal.
In the second half of 2018,
residents might begin to notice
some of the bigger changes in
the works: replacing the play-
ground at Meadows Park and
the sports courts at Claggett
Creek and Northview parks.
The current plan repre-
sents only a draft of things to
come and will need to be for-
mally accepted by the Parks
Board and then the Keizer
City Council before anything
happens. Parks board members
are trying to get a jump on
the next construction season
as contractors will need to be
hired from some projects and
nearly all of the work is weath-
er-dependent.
The largest projects on the
docket include capital improve-
ments such as rehabilitating the
large lawn in the southwest
corner of Keizer Rapids Park,
additional work at Carlson
Skate Park and construction
of a new Parks Shop to house
equipment. None of those have
a projected start date and will
depend on how quickly funds
accumulate and whether part-
ners can be found to push them
further up the calendar.
At the Keizer Parks and
Recreation Advisory Board
meeting Tuesday, Oct. 10,
Board member Jim Taylor said
he would like to see the fi eld at
Keizer Rapids Park get under-
way soon. The city had hoped
to rehab the fi eld with volun-
teer effort prior to the Keizer
eclipse event in August, but
a required permit and lack of
funds to pay for it stalled the
effort.
Taylor said the nature of
the work as far as seeding the
ground lent itself to a spring
start.
His call for action was met
with reticence on the parts of
board members Donna Bradley
and Matt Lawyer.
“There is a lot of feeling in
the community about every-
thing going to Keizer Rapids
Park, and there are a lot of oth-
er things that need to be done.
It needs to be considered, but I
don’t think it should be No. 1,”
Bradley said.
Lawyer advocated for taking
care of some of the more un-
derdeveloped park spaces fi rst.
“We need to have a serious
conversation about the under-
developed parks and the tran-
sient population using those
spaces for camping. That is a
serious concern for the neigh-
bors of those parks and a safety
issue,” Lawyer said.
Residents who would like a
chance to provide input on the
plan are encouraged to attend a
parks fee planning meeting at 6
p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at the
Keizer Civic Center.
The board expects to bring
a fi nalized plan back for ap-
proval in November.
6-7 netted $1,950 for the
nonprofi t library, exceeding
the goal of $1,800 for the
bi-annual sale. Funds will be
used to increase and enhance
library services for the Keizer
community.
“We owe our success to the
many hours of hard work by li-
brary volunteers and the Men
Chamber of Commerce com-
munity volunteers,” said Paula
Guiles, KCL Board of Direc-
tors President and coordinator
of the sale.
The next sale will be
scheduled for May 2018 in
conjunction with the Keizer
Iris Festival. Donations are al-
ways welcome.
KT on global vacation
A
B
We are
Everything
Keizer Libray book sale nets $1,950
Except
The Keizer Community of Action in Keizer (MAK),
Overpriced Library’s
Fall Book Sale Oct. an amazing group of Keizer
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Submitted photo
A: John Pattison took his Keizertimes with him on a trip to Nepal with the Timothy Initiative. B:
Marlene and Bob Parsons toured Europe last month and took their Keizertimes to Dubrovnik,
Croatia .You too can have your photo in the Keizertimes. Simply take the paper to your destination,
snap a picture with you and your group holding it, and send the photo along with everyone’s fi rst
and last names to kt@keizertimes.com.